Empire Leopard
British Steam merchant
Photo Courtesy of Library of Contemporary History, Stuttgart
| Name | Empire Leopard | ||
| Type: | Steam merchant | ||
| Tonnage | 5,676 tons | ||
| Completed | 1917 - Skinner & Eddy Corp, Seattle WA | ||
| Owner | Maritime Shipping & Trading Co Ltd, Cardiff | ||
| Homeport | London | ||
| Date of attack | 2 Nov 1942 | Nationality:  British | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-402 (Siegfried Freiherr von Forstner) | ||
| Position | 52° 26'N, 45° 22'W - Grid AJ 8658 | ||
| Complement | 41 (37 dead and 4 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | SC-107 | ||
| Route | Botwood - St. John’s (29 Oct) - Sydney, CB - Belfast - Avonmouth | ||
| Cargo | 7410 tons of zinc concentrates and munitions | ||
| History | Launched as War Flame for The Shipping Controller, completed in December 1917 as West Haven for US Shipping Board (USSB), Seattle. In June 1918 acquired by the US Navy as cargo transport USS West Haven (ID # 2159) for the Naval Overseas Transportation Service. In January 1919 returned to US Shipping Board (USSB) at New York and from 1920 to 1922 in service for Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific SS Corp, Baltimore, MD. 1929 renamed Marian Otis Chandler for Los Angeles SS Co, Los Angeles, CA. 1938 renamed Onomea for Matson Navigation Co, San Francisco CA. 1940 transferred to Britain and renamed Empire Leopard for Ministry of War Transport (MoWT). | ||
| Notes on event | At 08.03 hours on 2 Nov 1942, U-402 fired torpedoes at convoy SC-107 about 500 miles east of Belle Isle and sank two ships, the Empire Leopard and Empire Antelope. The master, 29 crew members and seven gunners from the Empire Leopard (Master John Evan Evans) were lost. Five crew members were picked up by the British rescue ship Stockport (Master Thomas Ernest Fea, OBE), but one of them died of exposure after being rescued and was buried at sea. The survivors were landed at Reykjavik on 8 November. | ||
| On board | We have details of 38 people who were on board. | ||
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